Description: The Detal Design Bureau, part of the Tactical Missile Corporation (KTRV), K-77M is a long-range air-to-air missile intended for the Russian Air Force PAK T-50 stealth fighter and fitted with the most accurate radar-guidance system ever produced. The Active Phased Array Antenna (APAA) radar seeker has been designed to avoid the unlock of the missile by the target aircraft carrying out violent maneuvers in close proximity to get out of the seeker's angle-of-view. The APAA seeker features a wider angle-of-view than older narrow angle radar-based seekers thus minimizing missing the target. With the APAA seeker the new missile is an absolute killer compared with domestic and foreign air-to-air missiles. The K-77M missile existence was revealed in late 2013 and is expected to enter serial production for the Russian Air Force and foreign customers by 2015.
The APAA radar seeker consists of a large number of cone-shaped cells installed under a transparent-to-radio-waves cap on the nose of the missile. Each cell receives only a part of the signal, but once digitally processed, the information from all cells is summarized into a full picture. With a full picture the K-77M missile immediately responds to sharp turns of the target making interception inevitable. The only inconvenient of the APAA technology is the tall price tag. In addition to the PAK FA T-50 stealth jet, the K-77M could be integrated onto existing Su-30 and Su-35 advanced fighter aircraft.